Method of distilling crude bituminous material.



No. 779,198. PATENTED JAN. 3, 1905.

H. W. ASH. METHOD OF DISTILLING CRUDE BITUMINOUS MATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED APR.1'7, 1902.

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llNiTnn STATES Patented January 3, 1905.

PATENT Prion.

HORACE W. ASH, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WARREN BROTHERS COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

METHOD OF DISTILLING CRUDE BITUMINOUS MATERIAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 779,198, dated January 3, 1905. Application filed April 17, 1902. Serial No. 103,347.

To all whom it may concern-.-

Be it known that I, HORACE VV.ASH,2L citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented anew and useful- Improvement in Methods of Distilling Crude Bituminous Material, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in explaining its nature.

This invention is in some respects an improvement upon that described in my application, Serial No. 103,346, for Letters Patent of the United States of even date herewith. In my said applicationIhave described a process of distilling crude bituminous material by passing therethrough a heated blast and of in spissating said material by charging said blast with finely-divided impurity, such as carbon, to be deposited in the material by the blast in its passage through the same. I have stated that said blast is preferably a blast of the products of furnace combustion, suchas is already charged with carbon adapted to be deposited as stated. My present invention resembles that of my said application in that a heated blast of the character and for the purpose specified is passed through the contents of the still. It differs, however, from that of my said application in that in the present instance the heat of the products of combustion alone is not relied upon to the same extent to perform the distillation. In my present invention the still is adapted to be heated directly in a furnace and by the passage of a blast of the products of combustion over the exterior thereof, as well as by the passage of such a blast through the material itself.

I will now describe the invention in conjunction with the drawing, where the figure illustrates in a somewhat conventional way a still provided with my improvements.

Referring to the drawing, A is the still.

It is in the shape of a long upright cylinder,

made of iron, and has the upwardly-curved bottom a, the discharge-outlet a, the fillinginlet a and the thermometer and the gagecocks usually provided for such stills, which 5 are not shown. It has the usual outlet a at the top connecting with the condenser (L The still is built in a brick or other furnace B, which surrounds it for nearly its entire height. The combustion-chamber b of the furnace is below the still, and there extends from it the flue b, which connects it with the heatingchamber 6 which surrounds the still. From this heating-chamber near its top extends a flue b to a forcing-chamber I). In this chamher is a fan-blower operated by the pulley If on the shaft 6, which serves to induce the draft in the furnace and also to force the products of combustion received from it through the flue into the pipe 6 which extends from the forcing-chamber 6 through the top of the still at b, downward through its center to the chamber 6' at the bottom of the still beneath the perforated diaphragm b Above this diaphragm, extending across 7 O the still are the perforated diaphragms 6 I2 at convenient distances apart. The contents of the still are heated first by the direct application of heat from the furnace to the outer surf-ace of its bottom and to the outer 5 surface of its sides. It is also heated and is aerated, whereby distillation is hastened, and

it is likewise, when desired, combined with lampblack by means of the flue connection with the furnace and the blower, the products 30 of combustion drawn from the furnace being forced through the supply-pipe 5 into the bottom of the still under such heat and pressure as may be desired. The heated air entering the bottom of the still under pressure is 5 divided and subdivided by the various perforated diaphragms through which it passes into numerous minute bubbles or globules and brought into intimate association with the entire mass, so that there is constantly 9 streaming through it a current of air which frees or assists in freeing the distilling mateterial beneath its upper surface from the products which it is desired to distil off and which escape in the form of gases which are subsequently condensed in a condenser.

By using in the furnace a fuel which is rich in carbon lampblack is formed in the furnace, which is fed into the still, and. when desired, the combustion may be so modified as to produce lampblack in quantity. This is generally introduced toward the end of the distillation. The lampblack is used for the purpose of providing a stiffness to the residual product and one that will permit it to assume the desired consistency within the range of atmospheric temperature. From one to twenty per cent. of lampblack or other impalpable powder is used in providing the bituminous product of distillation with the desired stiffness, and some products may not require it at all. The physical and other properties of crude bituminous material are such as to render it substantially impossible to determine in ad- Vance all the conditions of distillation and to what extent impalpable powder may be introduced to stiffen it, and it is generally custom- .ary to continue the distillation until a product has been reached which will show suitable characteristics when subjected to a penetration-machine at about 78 Fahrenheit. The principal use of the product will be for the manufacture of bituminous pavements, and for this purpose it is necessary that it should not be too soft at high atmospheric temperature or too hard at a low one, and it must always have a coherent and tenacious disposition in order not to crumble or fracture under the conditions of traihc. Any other suitable impalpable powder may be introduced into the still during distillation, and for this purpose I have described in the said pending application means for so doing.

The air-forcing apparatus may also be used for cooling the residual productin the still, the temperature of the blast from such apparatus being lowered to accomplish this purpose.

In use the exterior of the still is heated by the products of combustion provided by the furnace, thereby heating the material in the still, and at the same time the products of combustion drawn from the heating-chamber b are forced into the still to further heat its contents and-to also subject it to an aerating influence, by which the gases from its interior are collected and discharged and the process of distillation thus materially quickened.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. The method of distilling and treating crude bituminous material herein described, the same consisting in subjecting the material in a still to the action of exterior heat upon bustion over the exterior of the still and then injecting them directly into the still and passing them through the contents thereof.

4. The process of distilling and treating crude bituminous material involving the passage of a heated blast charged with finelydivided matter over the exterior of the still and then directly into and through the contents thereof.

5. The process of distilling and inspissating crude bituminous material consisting in creating a blast charged with finely-divided matter, applying said blast to the exterior of the still and then directly to the contents thereof.

6. The process of distilling and treating crude bituminous material consisting in subjecting the exterior of the still toa heated blast, directing said blast through the contents of the still, then cooling said material {)apidly by dropping the temperature of said ast.

7 A step in the distillation and treatment of crude bituminous material consisting in sub jecting first the exterior of the still and then its contents to a blast cooler than said contents.

8. The process of distilling and inspissating crude bituminous material consisting in subjecting the exterior of the still and its contents simultaneously to the action of a heated blast, injecting into saidblast lampblack or other finely-divided matter to be deposited in the still.

9. The process of distilling and treating crude bituminous material consisting in heating the exterior of the still by the direct action of the fire and its products of combustion and then conducting said products of combustion through the material in the still.

HORACE W. ASH.

Witnesses:

F F. RAYMOND, 2d, J. M. DoLAN. 

